Smokey.....

"What greater gift than the love of a cat...." -Charles Dickens
                                                       Smokey from the hill  Oct 26-2017

 Smokey ( and his brother Spencer) came knocking at the back door about 6 years ago. Just like neighbourhood children do when they want to say hello. I think it was 6 years. Maybe 5? Maybe 7.....the years kind of meld into each other.From then on  they came knocking every day. Just about. "Hello, are you in there??? Helllllo". 

"I'm HERE!"

 This morning Smokey was once again at the back door. (Spencer always comes later in the day.) Early bird, Smokey.In the wee dark hours of the morning, when not even the Stellar Jays were out, Smokey would be there. Staring through the glass door.  He always made that Maaaaaaaaaa sound. That meant, come out and play.

 Each morning  Smokey  watched as I mucked about in the mud, setting out peanuts and seeds for the Jays. I always stroked his  sleek grey coat and told him he was gorgeous. I told him that every day. He would beam. Well, I thought he was beaming....

 Then off he would toddle  to explore his world.....just like he did today.

 "The smallest feline is a masterpiece." -Leonardo DaVinci

 Not my cat, of course.  The neighbours' cat.From the hill.  But he and his brother, Spencer, liked to visit. Sometimes they would stay all day. Snooze in the grass. Charge up the trees.Charge down the trees. Catch birds. Catch snakes. I was always running after Smokey, especially, to take the snakes and birds away if I could. He loved to take garter snakes home to his people on the hill.

 Smokey loved to squoosh himself beside  the seed pan, where  birds would gather. Flying snacks for Smokey.Yum.

  I swear that sometimes I would catch them playing hide and seek.

 In the winter. In the snow, I would find Smokey waiting patiently on the back door step.Spencer did not like getting his paws wet. He rarely came down from their home-on-the-hill when it snowed.  It was usually Smokey batting away at snowflakes. Making snow angels in the frost and snow.His dark coat turning white. He loved every minute of it.

 And every day, waiting to say hello. At the start of the day. Or the end of the day. Sometimes in between. "Hello, Smokey " I would say. "How are you today?" He would beam.

 He just liked to visit. 

 Or HANG  around. Swaying his paws in the breeze.

 Then he would come back to the door and stare in. And I would go outside and spend a moment with him. And he would beam some more.

 Winter after winter came and went. He was not afraid of the snow. He would jump and pounce. And dance and dance. He loved to dance. To be silly. To have fun. Pure joy.

 "I love cats and little by little they become a home's visible soul."
                                   -Jean Cocteau

  Smokey died today. Lying in the sun at his own house on the hill. Died of  a heart condition, it is believed. Something that we knew he  had. Some people will say" Ah well, it's just a cat."  Just a cat......if only.

 Oh yes he WAS JUST a cat! Just a funny little being who  just could not contain himself. Who liked to climb up high!Who was soooo people oriented that he just HAD to say hello. Just a cat......yes he was a character. He had a huge heart, a hysterical, goofy  personality that we enjoyed every time he was here. He loved his life, and we loved seeing him live it. Oh yes. He was definitely JUST a cat... The entire neighbourhood will miss him. 
    And I will be looking for him in the  mornings, when the day is early and dark. I will miss him most then........I will miss him beaming at me and saying "hello."

                              "Cats choose us......." -Kristan Cast

Photographs 2017